‘PacoimaStories’ documentary returns to Valley for second screening

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Filmmaker Crystal Jackson next to actor Danny Trejo during the first screening on Feb. 27 of "Pacoima Stories: Land of Dreams," in Pacoima. The documentary will be shown again on April 2. Source: Crystal Jackson

When the most in-depth documentary on Pacoima screened late last month, there wasn’t an empty seat in the house next to the likes of Rep. Tony Cardenas, actor Danny Trejo and R&B singer Howard Huntsberry.

“I had people there wanting to come back and see it again,” said filmmaker Crystal Jackson, a native of Pacoima who now lives in San Jose. “And at the end of the show, I had people in tears saying, ‘Thank you for reliving our memories.’”

The film tells the stories in the voices of local residents, many of whom harken back to the early 20th century of the suburb within a suburb that became the San Fernando Valley’s unofficial minority district.

It also looks at the waves of incoming and outgoing racial and ethnic groups, a drug epidemic that shattered homes and the loss of factory jobs that destroyed incomes.

But it also tells of the many successful doctors, lawyers, athletes and celebrities that grew out of a working-class Pacoima known for generations of family ties.

Most of their stories were never told, said Jackson, 54, an African-American mother of three whose family moved to the Valley in the 1930s.

She grew up in the San Fernando Gardens housing projects before moving to other parts of the Valley. She graduated from Granada Hills High school, but attended San Fernando High her last semester so she could stay close to her Pacoima friends. She then studied journalism and history at Cal State Northridge.

Her documentary was born of a YouTube slideshow on Pacoima she made to commemorate black history month.

The two-hour documentary — produced by Pacoima native TV producer and author Lionel “Lon” Grandison Jr. and Lance “Sir Lance” Grandison, features a Who’s Who of Pacoima residents.

It includes Rudy Ortega, president of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. It speaks with Mary Neal, who recalls the days when Pacoima was mostly a black post-war community. And it speaks with Daniel Lozano, who could recall when whites lived on the west side of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and Mexican-Americans lived on the east.

Many of those interviewed in the film knew Ritchie Valens, a rock-and-roll pioneer whose hit “La Bamba” mesmerized teens across the nation. He was killed in a 1959 plane crash.

The film also charts famous men and women from the northeast Valley neighborhood – from politicians such as Cardenas to actors such as Trejo and former NFL football player Charles White.

Jackson, who founded the Pacoima Historical Society to house hundreds of historic photographs, said “PacoimaStories” is poised to go on the film festival circuit, with a possible wider release. It may also be shown at Cal State Northridge.

“The story of Pacoima is the story of America,” she told the Daily News. “It’s an American story. It’s a land of dreams.”

The two-hour “PacoimaStories” will be shown at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, at the Vaughn G3 Performing Arts Theater, 11200 Herrick Ave., Pacoima. Tickets are $12. For information, www.PacoimaStories.com. For group rates, 408-435-3015.